APPLE

How the New iPhone SE Could Give Apple Something More Appealing Than a Tech Lead

Apple is spending a lot of its marketing capital on Apple Intelligence, but the community is eager for another launch. New details about the iPhone SE suggest that the launch is getting closer, and it could be a launch that promotes Apple’s entry into the cutthroat midrange market and opens Apple Intelligence to a wider audience.

Writing for Ajunews, Lee Seong-jin reports that one of the iPhone SE’s main hardware suppliers is preparing to start full production in December. LG Innotek makes several components needed for the iPhone SE’s camera. Given the December start and LG Innotek’s historical pattern of starting production about three months before an iPhone hits the retail market, this reinforces other reports pointing to a mid-March 2025 launch for the fourth edition of the iPhone SE.

The previous iPhone SE is still on sale, with the entry-level 64GB storage model costing $429 and $479 for the 128GB model. That compares with the Pixel 8a, which is listed at $499 for the 128GB model — though Google has been quick to offer generous discounts and trade-in values ​​that put the Pixel 8a’s price below the three-year-old SE.

Those in the Apple community who remember the various timelines will recognize the March date as the tentative release of iOS 18.3 and the final wave of apps in Apple’s oddly-named Apple Intelligence suite. This will complete the generative AI journey outlined at the Worldwide Developer Conference in summer 2024.

Apple is nearly a year behind rival manufacturers in bringing generative AI to its smartphones; Google’s Pixel 8 family arrived in October 2023, while Samsung’s Galaxy AI launched in January 2024. Google has since updated the software — now marketed as Gemini AI — for the Pixel 9 family, and Samsung is expected to move to its second-generation AI in January 2025. Given Apple’s tentative steps with Apple Intelligence, the gap will continue to widen throughout the first half of 2025.

How the iPhone SE could close an AI gap... However, the launch of the iPhone SE could offer Apple something more compelling than a technological lead. It could offer a broader and more substantial user base. Samsung’s early entry into the AI ​​market with the popular Galaxy S series has seen the South Korean company capture an 82% market share in AI-capable smartphones.

Given that the iPhone SE will be Apple’s first new mid-range smartphone in three years, Tim Cook and his team are hoping that pent-up demand for the more affordable iPhone will be unleashed and the SE will become a best-seller. If that’s the case, Apple should be in a good position to chip away at Samsung’s AI lead and potentially overtake the South Korean company. If that’s the case, the slow and limited rollout of Apple Intelligence could be balanced by claiming the top spot in AI-powered smartphones.

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